Timber Frame Hybrid Home - Owner Builder

[jk96]

I started a thread back in December about long driveways and appraisals in connections with our plans to build a home.

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/rural-living/266209-long-driveway-home-appraisals.html

Its taken a little longer than I thought but we are finally able to start the build. The biggest problem I ran into was getting approval to be my own general contractor. The biggest issue was contractor lien coverage. The bank wanted a GC with a payment bond to cover the build. It took over a month but we finally received the final approval from the bank last week. I ended up having to use equity from our current assets to secure the project during the lien period.

I thought I would start this thread to document my experience building our home. As mentioned, we are building this as owner builders so I will be my own general contractor on the project. More info to come shortly including pics of the current plans, timber frame design, etc.

Jeremy

 

[WayneB]

Jeremy, sounds like an great project and look forward to see the progress both written and in pictures. Banks are really up tight about owner built project, guess they made so many bad loans in the past that now they have to blame someone for it. Take it out on home owners.

We built our own home (2400 sqft addition and the bank was really concerned from the very start, unlike most we were also doing most of the work ourselves which had some good times and many bad ones. We put in for financing and the bank dragged their feet on it so when it came time to do the bulldozer work we decided to go ahead with it. Shortly after bulldozing a portion of the old home and digging the cellar we got a call from the bank telling us they had to do a site evaluation before approving the loan.

Told me they would have an inspector at our place in the morning. I did not sleep too much that night. He should up early and couldn’t believe we had gone ahead without approval. My only comment was “well, we have to get things closed in while the weather is nice and couldn’t wait on the bank” He saw what we were doing and took pictures and left. The next day the bank called and wanted us to come in so we did. The VP said he was nervous about what we had started, but said we could have our load. It was a long process, nearly two years in construction mode with a temp kitchen, shower in the barn, and a wife that I learned could put up with anything.

I really think it helped keep our marriage together.

Keep positive thoughts!

Wayne

 

[jk96]

Thanks Wayne,

the start to your project sounds a lot like ours - lol. We initial had the pre-approval done back in late Dec. as an owner build, just had to get our plans and estimates together for the appraisal and sign the construction loan. Since we had the pre-approval, I went ahead and purchased appliances at a great year in discount, got the building permit (very easy process in the county outside of city limits), septic perc test done, and drive graded and graveled. About a week before meeting to turn in our plans and estimates we received a call from the bank letting us know that the title companies are now requiring a payment bond and we couldn't owner build. Needless to say this would have blown our budget up. After a lot of leg work we were able to get it approved using equity to cover the payment bond requirement. It's a big relief to finally have this portion of the project behind us so we can now focus on the build instead of the approvals.

Jeremy

 

[BuzzardA91]

Jk96 - cant wait to see pictures. I built a full timberframe home 6 years ago and it is quite an experience. I was my own GC. My first project anywhere near this size. There are a lot of mistakes made as it differs from stick frame construction in the order things are done. A GC who has a few timberframes under his belt would be a huge help. It even gets more tricky when you merge timberframe with stick frame. I did it with the garage and bonus room opting for stick frame. Feel free to ask any questions. Maybe I ran into it with my house. We basically built a cape with a bump out living room.

Are you using SIP panels? What brand?

 

[jk96]

Jk96 - cant wait to see pictures. I built a full timberframe home 6 years ago and it is quite an experience. I was my own GC. My first project anywhere near this size. There are a lot of mistakes made as it differs from stick frame construction in the order things are done. A GC who has a few timberframes under his belt would be a huge help. It even gets more tricky when you merge timberframe with stick frame. I did it with the garage and bonus room opting for stick frame. Feel free to ask any questions. Maybe I ran into it with my house. We basically built a cape with a bump out living room.

Are you using SIP panels? What brand?

We are actually going to stick frame and spray foam around the timber frame instead of using SIP panels. This is not normally the traditional way to do a timber frame since SIPS are almost always used. The original plan was full timber and SIPS but budget didn't allow it. Our framer just finished framing a timber hybrid using this method. The timber frame was from the same timber company we are using so he at least has some experience. The main central portion of the house (living room/entry) will be a full timber frame. The left wing of the home (dining/kitchen) will have the lower level only in timbers. There will be no timber frame for the right wing. I'll try to get some pictures and line drawings up tonight which will make things much clearer than my descriptions. Our timber frame company and framer also use the same design program which is nice as they can share files which will help with the the construction drawings. The other benefit of not using SIPS is a lot more flexibility to change electrical, windows, etc if we need to during the build.

Jeremy

 

[jk96]

Attached are the floor plans and line drawings that should help make sense of what our plans are for the build. I've also attached the timber profile from our timber framer. As mentioned earlier we will have a full timber frame in the center of the home and timber for the first floor of the left wing for the dining room and kitchen. There is no timber frame for the right wing. We will stick frame around everything and spray foam instead of using sips.

We decided not to hire an architect and designed the homes floor plan and exterior ourselves. It took countless hours of changes and revisions but we finally have something we are very happy with. With that said I'm open to input and suggestions. The timber frame has been put into design, however we have about a week before the timber company starts on the construction and foundation drawings. We still need to sit down and figure out windows. The placement of the laundry room is located where it is because we plan to add a breezeway and garage sometime in the future. The breezeway and garage was scrapped and garage moved to the walkout portion of the basement when we found we were way over budget.

More to come as we progress.

View attachment Floor PlansTBN.pdf
View attachment Timber ProfileTBN.pdf

 

[LarryD]

Outstanding design, I really like the layout. I'll be following your trials.
Is the furniture in the floor plan scaled. The master bed takes up 3/4 of a 16' room. That would be close to a 12' bed. LOL

 

[jk96]

Outstanding design, I really like the layout. I'll be following your trials.
Is the furniture in the floor plan scaled. The master bed takes up 3/4 of a 16' room. That would be close to a 12' bed. LOL

Thanks. A lot of time was spent on the design before I ended up with something we were happy with. The dotted lines are a vaulted ceiling that extend past the bed making it look like part of the bed. I originally added these as a notation for a vaulted ceiling. The room has since been enlarged and the vaulted ceiling was never moved or re-scaled.

 

[LarryD]

OK, now I see it. I thought that was one big bed.

 

[jk96]

OK, now I see it. I thought that was one big bed.

Lol. I like your tag line by the way. Glad we are in the county and not city. Our building permit involved the time it took to write the check. In the door and out in about 5 minutes.

Jeremy

 

[jk96]

Played around with photoshop a bit this evening and overlayed the timber layout over the first floor. Kind of neat to be able to see exactly where the overhead beams and post placements will be. We received the engineer approval for the frame today as well.

Also got a call from fedex freight. We have about 100 sq/ft of hickory flooring showing up on Monday. I found a great buy online on natural unfinished hickory for $3.30 sq/ft. I didn't want to order sight unseen so we ordered 100 sq/ft from the supplier to get a good sample to look at before placing the full order. Looking forward to Monday to see what the flooring looks like.

Jeremy


1st-Floor-with-Timber-Overlay

 

[tkappeler]

Jeremy,

That is a beautiful design!! I have a thread going here on our new home. It is a timberframe hybrid also. The great room is timber frame, and the rest is traditional frame constuction and trusses. Any assistance I can be, do not hesitate to ask.

 

[jk96]

Jeremy,

That is a beautiful design!! I have a thread going here on our new home. It is a timberframe hybrid also. The great room is timber frame, and the rest is traditional frame constuction and trusses. Any assistance I can be, do not hesitate to ask.

Thanks for the comments and offer as well as the link to your thread. I hadn't seen your thread yet. Looks like I've got a lot of reading to get caught up. I'm sure there will be questions to come.

Jeremy

 

[jk96]

A few more updates.

I didn't mention it earlier but the timber frame is being build by Clydesdale Frames out of Hutchison, KS. They have been fantastic to work with. Chris at Clydesdale started the construction drawings today and we finally have a firm timeline to begin our planning. The timber frame will be raised somewhere around the end of July or first week of August. My busiest time for work is May through the middle of July so this will work out well for us.

I had Chris change bent #4 in the plans from a king post truss to a queen post truss. My reason for this was to help highlight the fireplace. By changing to a queen post this creates timbers that will run up each side of the fireplace and should help accent it much better. We will probably recess the fireplace into the wall as well and move most of the bump out to the outdoor area. This should allow us to keep all of the timbers of the bent visible as we fill in the stone around them. The fireplace will be a see-through fireplace that will create both an indoor and outdoor fireplace in one unit to gather around. They are going to modify the insert so that the heat vents only to the inside of the house. The nice part about this will be the ability to store and load wood from the outside as well as cleaning the unit from outside of the home.

We've also added a few accent pieces to help carry the look of the timber frame into the stick portion of the house. We will have timber posts added to the corners of the master bedroom and around the bump out where the tub is for the master bath. The upstairs hallway will get 4 timber scissor trusses. We are also planning to open up a small space in the upstairs above bedrooms #1 and #2 to create an additional loft accessed with a ladder. Pine T&G will be added to this area instead of sheetrock. None of these additions are structural but should help carry the timber frame feel into the portions of the house that are stick built.

Image of the updated frame with bent #4 highlighted in blue. The smaller timbers in blue are the timbers added around the master bath.


Timber-Profile---Bent-Change

 

[MossflowerWoods]

That is a beautiful design. I can;t wait to see it.

Question. Is this more expensive that typical stick built (I assume so) but I also assume it will last longer. Other advantages (besides beauty)?

Some day I want to build the last house I will ever live in, and I want it to survive me and get passed down to grandkids, and their grandkids, etc...

I hope the question is not too nosey...

Thanks in advance,
David

 

[jk96]

That is a beautiful design. I can;t wait to see it.

Question. Is this more expensive that typical stick built (I assume so) but I also assume it will last longer. Other advantages (besides beauty)?

Some day I want to build the last house I will ever live in, and I want it to survive me and get passed down to grandkids, and their grandkids, etc...

I hope the question is not too nosey...

Thanks in advance,
David

Hi David,

Not too nosy at all. Short answer is yes, it is more expensive. To give you a little info on why we chose a timber frame home I'll start with a little info on our situation.

I'm 35 and have a beautiful family with a wife and three kids ages 4, 7, and 8. I started my business at the same time I started college at 18. We married when I was 24. Instead of renting a home or buying a new home at that time we built our house on a second floor of our metal building which is used for our business. The home inside our building turned out great and from the inside looks as nice as any other home. We were able to build it this way for about $30 sq/ft doing a lot of the work ourselves. At that time I promised my wife that eventually when we could afford it and were comfortable taking the leap we would have a "real" home away from work. The original plan was to build about 4-5 year from now however with current interest rates and the age of our children we decided it was time to make the jump. We have also outgrown our current home and an addition would have been in the works had we stayed.

This leads into our plan to build. We decided that we were going to build with the idea that this would be our retirement home as well. Starting out we liked the look and rustic feel of a log home. In doing research we decided we really didn't want to deal with all of the maintenance issues that came with it. We ran into a few web sites on timber frame homes. After researching we decided this was the way to go. We found Clydesdale Frames on the web and toured a few of their homes that they built frames for. When walking into the first home on the tour list we were sold. A timber frame was our only choice, even if we had to wait a few years.

In pricing timber frame homes most of the advice I received was that when comparing a timber frame home to a stick built home you could pretty much add the price of the timber frame itself and that was how much more the timber frame home would cost. I would say that is probably accurate if you consider the same type of finishing. The problem is that with a timber frame you tend to go higher end on the finishing due to the look of the frame and type of home. More hardwoods instead of carpet, fireplace vs no fireplace, more expensive lighting, furniture, tongue and groove ceiling vs sheetrock, etc. We are trying to get this home built for $100/sq ft which is doable as our own builder. Most of the estimates I see for a timber frame are anywhere from $150 to $225 sq/ft.

Benefits are longer life span, energy efficiency, and aesthetics. The exposed timbers and joinery are really remarkable when walking into one of these homes. The vaulted roof lines add to that. A timber frame should last hundreds of years and the SIP panels are a very high and true R rating. With that said we are going a little more conventional route due to cost. We started out with a similar design using a full timber frame, SIPS, and attached breezeway and three car garage. I found out quickly that I was better at designing than budgeting. I initially designed a fantastic house that we couldn't afford. We scrapped the breezeway and the garage was moved into the basement. The laundry room was placed where it is with the idea that an attached garage would be added later when we could afford it. We were still over budget and decided to do a partial timber frame instead of full. We kept the central portion of the house as a full timber frame and scraped the timber frame for the left and right wing with the exception of kitchen and dining rooms. We will use stick framing for the entire home and spray foam instead of using SIPS. All of the above changes brought us within budget. Sorry for the long winded reply but wanted to give a little more background on ourselves and decision for this type of home.

Jeremy

 

[crazyal]

I hear you when you say coming up with a design took forever. When I designed my house I wanted something about 1600~1800 sqf, open enough so a wood stove could get heat to all the rooms, and a large great room to show off the timber frame. Each time I would start off with in my limits but quickly end up 1000 sqf over what I wanted. Around here each bank is different, wish I had known that. The credit union I dealt with was real pain. I used my step brother as GC but dealt with the CU myself. One day I stopped in to the CU and met the woman I was dealing with and we finally worked out a happy medium where I would send the bills to them and they would cut either me or the supplier a check. They hired an inspector to come out a couple of times to take pictures to prove I was building a house.

I found the SIP weren't too bad, price wise but the price tripled once I got quotes to have them installed. I ended up installing them myself (step brother and I) and was amazed how easy they went up. I did stick build one wall that has a hammerbeam and is mostly window. By stick framing it I was able to use two LVL beams inside the wall to stiffen it up from strong winds. Be sure to post lots of pictures as you move along. I had the time and did almost all of the work myself, from clearing the land all the way to the trim. The only two things I didn't do, the cement foundation and the timber frame itself. It'll be stressful at times but you will know your house inside and out.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Hi David,

Not too nosy at all. Short answer is .... Sorry for the long winded reply but wanted to give a little more background on ourselves and decision for this type of home.

Jeremy

Jeremy,

Not long winded, and totally awesome answer.

I will keep watching this thread as it progresses, and dream a little about building my dream home myself in the process...

Thanks,
David

 

[jk96]

Jeremy,

Not long winded, and totally awesome answer.

I will keep watching this thread as it progresses, and dream a little about building my dream home myself in the process...

Thanks,
David

Thanks David and thank you for serving our country.

We now have a firm date for the raising. The timber frame will be raised the week of July 22nd weather permitting and construction drawings began this week as well. It seemed like it took forever to get to this point but things are finally moving and plans are coming together.

 

[jk96]

Only a few updates. Still waiting for the construction drawings to be finished. We did get the hickory floor samples in. I thought it looked great as is and my wife decided she doesn't like the natural look. She prefers a darker floor and would like to stain it. It kills me to stain hickory. We are now looking at the possibility of brazilian walnut (ipe) for its rich color and variation as well as durability. Anyone have any experience with ipe for interior flooring? Like or dislikes?

We also received an email on our stone veneer. They have finished cutting all of the flats and are working on corners now. It should be finished and ready for shipment by Friday. It's shipping on a flatbed and is supposed to weigh in at 1,500 lbs per pallet. That's right at my limit for the tractor to unload so I'm hoping it doesn't come in much heavier. That's about it for now. Hoping to get the construction drawings soon and will post when I do.

Jeremy